Monday, March 07, 2005

Au cimetiere - Berlioz "Les Nuits d'ete"

This is a song from Berlioz' song cycle "les nuits d'ete" or "summer nights" and is entitled "in the graveyard." I'm presently listening to a rendition by Jessye Norman--personally, for this song I'd prefer a slightly lighter, more ethereal voice (i.e. Dawn Upshaw), because of its eerie and haunting nature.

Here's a CD booklet translation of the french:

Do you know teh white gravestoneWhich the shade of a yew-treeTouches like a sigh?On the yew a solitary white doveAs the sun goes downSings its sad song:

A sickly sweet airAt once enchanting and full of doom,Which affects you unpleasantlyAnd which one would like to listen to forever;Like a song sighed out to heavenBy a love-lorn angel.

One would think the awakened soulWept under the earthIn tune with the song,And from grief at being forgottenComplained in a soft murmurLike the moaning of a dove.

You feel that a memoryIs ebbing back,Recalled by the music.A shade, a shimmering formBrushes past you,Shrouded in white.

Round you,From the half open amaryllis flowersComes a faint perfume,And the phantom whispers to you,Softly stretching out its arms:You will come back.

Oh never again, when the eveningComes darkly down,Will I go and stand near the graveAnd hear the pale doveFrom teh top of the yew-tree singIts plaintive song!

--I just love it because it seems like a far more potent portrait of the graveyard scene from the Phantom of the Opera (this could be applied to the book, not just musical). Sure, it has other connotations--as in a person recovering from the loss of a loved one and bordering between reality and the insanity awaiting (and probably pending death) should grief overcome...etc... But I love how he sets the "you will come back"...you can hear that it is the phantom or ghost speaking the line. And also at the end, it tries to be major and happy, but the woodwinds (probably oboe) keep softly playing a dissonant note...leaving the conclusion of the song and poetry rather open...